Jailed former presidential candidate released in Belarus

A candidate in last year's presidential elections in Belarus, sentenced to five years and six months in jail for taking part in post-election protests, was released on Saturday, his wife said. It was announced in mid-September that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned 11 opposition activists, but their names were not disclosed. "Presidential candidate Dmitry Uss was released at 19:00 local time [16:00 GMT] in connection with Lukashenko's amnesty," Yevgenia Uss told the Charter'97 online portal. At least five of the nine losing candidates in December's presidential elections were brought to trial and convicted following a brutal crackdown on rallies against the result of the vote, which Lukashenko won with a landslide. Three losing candidates - Nikolai Statkevich, Dmitry Uss and Andrei Sannikov - were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to six years in prison. The fourth, Vladimir Neklyaev, was sentenced to two years in prison with a two-year reprieve. Another candidate, Ales Mikhalevich, fled the country and was granted political asylum in Czech Republic. Vitaly Rymashevsky received a suspended sentence of two years. So far, only Statkevich and Sannikov remain in jail.